Ty Zachary is one of two local rookies who have signed up to play for new Soo Thunderbirds coach Denny Lambert.

It is a double bonus when the team can add two locals at once.

Two of the top four scorers from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League will stay at home to suit up for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League come the 2020-2021 season.

Next, it is the jersey of the London Knights that Mason Chitaroni wants to wear.

That’s because Chitaroni is a plum prospect of the Knights, who took the 5-foot-10, 150-pound defender in the fifth round, 99th overall, at this year’s Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League.

“I want to show London that they made the right choice in drafting me,” the 15-year old youngster relayed to Hockey News North.

Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák Steel Bulls have put in a call from Central Hungary to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to ask veteran defenseman Bronson Kovacs to play another season of professional hockey in Erste Liga.

Bronson Kovacs

And the 29-year old Kovacs — he will turn 30 in July — told Hockey News North that he has made a verbal agreement to return to the Steel Bulls for the 2020-2021 hockey season. The 2020-2021 campaign will mark the sixth season of pro hockey in Hungary for Kovacs.

Several skaters from the top team in the Great North Midget Hockey League from 2019-2020 are poised to progress to the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League in 2020-2021.

Dylan Forsyth

Forwards Michael Chaffay, Dylan Forsyth, Devin Mauro and Ty Zachary and defenseman Mateo Perri are among the stalwarts from the Great North’s Soo Jr. Greyhounds who may be headed to the NOJHL once the 2020-2021 season gets going.

It is destination unknown for Mason Chitaroni relative to the 2020-2021 hockey season. That is, the 15-year old defenseman with the world-class speed — he does not turn 16 until October 2 — could be playing in the Ontario Hockey League, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, or for any one of four teams in the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League when the 2020-2021 campaign gets going.

Landon Deforge is not what one would call a big kid, standing in at 5-foot-8 and tipping the scales at 155 pounds. Nonetheless, the skilled, smart, speedy skater played a big role for the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League during the 2019-2020 season.

He is working out on his own, in the family basement and in the garage. He jogs alone through his neighbourhood — and thinks of the season ahead. A 2020 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft pick of the London Knights, Mason Chitaroni has a vision of where he wants to be when training camp opens.

Defenseman Teegan Dumont from the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of the Great North Midget Hockey League has been invited to the Ontario Hockey League training camp of the London Knights, Hockey News North has confirmed.

Soo Greyhounds, Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion are the northern teams of the Ontario Hockey League. But not to be outdone by geography, the powerhouse London Knights of southwestern Ontario have four skaters from northeastern Ontario in their system.

Ontario Hockey League powerhouse London Knights have gone to the often-overlooked Great North Midget Hockey League two years in a row now to take a player within the first five rounds of the annual priority selections draft.

Soo Jr. Greyhounds have started a hectic week of play with their arch-rival Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves the right way. Heart-and-soul forward Ty Zachary lit the lamp with a hat trick and added an assist for good measure as the Jr. Greyhounds scored a 4-2 road decision over the Nickel Capital Wolves in Great North Midget Hockey League action from Wednesday.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Hockey News North has obtained a copy of the decision made by the Sault Major Hockey Association to suspend head coach Jamie Henderson of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League for five games following an alleged verbal encounter with one of his players.)

Jamie Henderson, who is the head coach of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Midget Hockey League, has been handed a conditional five-game suspension by the Sault Major Hockey Association, Hockey News North has confirmed. Henderson had been under indefinite suspension by the SMHA since the middle of last week.

The first-place team in the Great North Midget Hockey League has big issues. And as it currently stands, the Soo Jr. Greyhounds will not be playing their two scheduled home games against the Sudbury Minor Wolves this weekend.

Brennen Martel is not known as a lamp lighter. He tallied just five goals in 32 games with the Timmins Majors of the Great North Midget Hockey League in 2018-2019 and has dented the twine three times in 31 outings with the Espanola Express of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League thus far in 2019-2020.